Innovation, Creativity, and Brain Integration

Author(s):  
Frederick Travis

The heart of creative thinking is the incubation stage, in which ideas freely move on a subconscious level going beyond the limits of the problem space to create new solutions. The incubation stage might be fostered through meditation practices that lead to transcending, such as the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique that cultures greater brain integration in which the brain functions more as a whole. Higher brain integration is seen during the TM session within a few weeks of practice, and after the TM session with regular practice over time. Higher brain integration is associated with higher creativity and greater success in life. Adding the experience of transcending to enhance incubation of creative ideas is innovation from the inside. Training in transcending could be part of forward-looking graduate programs to help their graduates thrive in an ever-changing workspace landscape, and could be a workplace skill to support better performance in many professions.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evan Flynn

Abstract Change blindness engenders an inability to detect changes made to a visual scene and has negative implications for areas such as road safety and eye-witness memory. Therefore, it’s important to find ways of reducing change blindness to create a safer society. One way this might be achieved is through the practice of meditation. Regular practice of meditation may reduce the effects of change blindness by expanding a practitioner’s consciousness and brain potential over time. This study compared the influence of practitioner experience and medi- tation style- Transcendental Meditation (TM) or Mindfulness-based Meditation (MBM), on change blindness susceptibility. Forty-six participants (30 female and 16 male) with a com- bined mean age of 42 years old, were assigned to two experimental groups depending on the pre-existing meditation style they practiced. Both groups completed an identical experimen- tal task known as a flicker-paradigm where they had to identify changes made to various images. A two-way independent ANOVA revealed a significant effect of meditation style and experience on change-detection reaction times- (F(1,42) =7.22, p < 0.05, = .147), with long-term transcendental meditation practitioners recording faster reaction times (mean = 5927.73, SD = 606.92) on average than long-term mindfulness-based practitioners (mean = 10949.92 SD = 984.72). These results support the contention that long-term practice of transcendental meditation is more effective at reducing change blindness than long-term practice of mindfulness-based meditation.


1970 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muskinul Fuad

The education system in Indonesia emphasize on academic intelligence, whichincludes only two or three aspects, more than on the other aspects of intelligence. For thatreason, many children who are not good at academic intelligence, but have good potentials inother aspects of intelligence, do not develop optimally. They are often considered and labeledas "stupid children" by the existing system. This phenomenon is on the contrary to the theoryof multiple intelligences proposed by Howard Gardner, who argues that intelligence is theability to solve various problems in life and produce products or services that are useful invarious aspects of life.Human intelligence is a combination of various general and specific abilities. Thistheory is different from the concept of IQ (intelligence quotient) that involves only languageskills, mathematical, and spatial logics. According to Gardner, there are nine aspects ofintelligence and its potential indicators to be developed by each child born without a braindefect. What Gardner suggested can be considered as a starting point to a perspective thatevery child has a unique individual intelligence. Parents have to treat and educate theirchildren proportionally and equitably. This treatment will lead to a pattern of education that isfriendly to the brain and to the plurality of children’s potential.More than the above points, the notion that multiple intelligences do not just comefrom the brain needs to be followed. Humans actually have different immaterial (spiritual)aspects that do not refer to brain functions. The belief in spiritual aspects and its potentialsmeans that human beings have various capacities and they differ from physical capacities.This is what needs to be addressed from the perspective of education today. The philosophyand perspective on education of the educators, education stakeholders, and especially parents,are the first major issue to be addressed. With this step, every educational activity andcommunication within the family is expected to develop every aspect of children'sintelligence, especially the spiritual intelligence.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 887
Author(s):  
Guenther Schneider ◽  
Alexander Massmann ◽  
Peter Fries ◽  
Felix Frenzel ◽  
Arno Buecker ◽  
...  

Background. This paper aimed to prospectively evaluate the safety of embolization therapy of pulmonary arteriovenous malformations (PAVMs) for the detection of cerebral infarctions by pre- and post-interventional MRI. Method One hundred and five patients (male/female = 44/61; mean age 48.6+/−15.8; range 5–86) with pre-diagnosed PAVMs on contrast-enhanced MRA underwent embolization therapy. The number of PAVMs treated in each patient ranged from 1–8 PAVMs. Depending on the size and localization of the feeding arteries, either Nester-Coils or Amplatzer vascular plugs were used for embolization therapy. cMRI was performed immediately before, and at the 4 h and 3-month post-embolization therapy. Detection of peri-interventional cerebral emboli was performed via T2w and DWI sequences using three different b-values, with calculation of ADC maps. Results Embolization did not show any post-/peri-interventional, newly developed ischemic lesions in the brain. Only one patient who underwent re-embolization and was previously treated with tungsten coils that corroded over time showed newly developed, small, diffuse emboli in the post-interventional DWI sequence. This patient already had several episodes of brain emboli before re-treatment due to the corroded coils, and during treatment, when passing the corroded coils, experienced additional small, clinically inconspicuous brain emboli. However, this complication was anticipated but accepted, since the vessel had to be occluded distally. Conclusion Catheter-based embolization of PAVMs is a safe method for treatment and does not result in clinically inconspicuous cerebral ischemia, which was not demonstrated previously.


Antioxidants ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 1311
Author(s):  
Faraz Ahmad ◽  
Ping Liu

Lead (Pb) neurotoxicity is a major concern, particularly in children. Developmental exposure to Pb can alter neurodevelopmental trajectory and has permanent neuropathological consequences, including an increased vulnerability to further stressors. Ascorbic acid is among most researched antioxidant nutrients and has a special role in maintaining redox homeostasis in physiological and physio-pathological brain states. Furthermore, because of its capacity to chelate metal ions, ascorbic acid may particularly serve as a potent therapeutic agent in Pb poisoning. The present review first discusses the major consequences of Pb exposure in children and then proceeds to present evidence from human and animal studies for ascorbic acid as an efficient ameliorative supplemental nutrient in Pb poisoning, with a particular focus on developmental Pb neurotoxicity. In doing so, it is hoped that there is a revitalization for further research on understanding the brain functions of this essential, safe, and readily available vitamin in physiological states, as well to justify and establish it as an effective neuroprotective and modulatory factor in the pathologies of the nervous system, including developmental neuropathologies.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Linuo Wang

Injuries and hidden dangers in training have a greater impact on athletes ’careers. In particular, the brain function that controls the motor function area has a greater impact on the athlete ’s competitive ability. Based on this, it is necessary to adopt scientific methods to recognize brain functions. In this paper, we study the structure of motor brain-computer and improve it based on traditional methods. Moreover, supported by machine learning and SVM technology, this study uses a DSP filter to convert the preprocessed EEG signal X into a time series, and adjusts the distance between the time series to classify the data. In order to solve the inconsistency of DSP algorithms, a multi-layer joint learning framework based on logistic regression model is proposed, and a brain-machine interface system of sports based on machine learning and SVM is constructed. In addition, this study designed a control experiment to improve the performance of the method proposed by this study. The research results show that the method in this paper has a certain practical effect and can be applied to sports.


2020 ◽  
pp. 108705472096456
Author(s):  
Yue Yang ◽  
Gang Peng ◽  
Hongwu Zeng ◽  
Diangang Fang ◽  
Linlin Zhang ◽  
...  

Objective: The present study aimed to examine the effects of SNAP25 on the integration ability of intrinsic brain functions in children with ADHD, and whether the integration ability was associated with working memory (WM). Methods: A sliding time window method was used to calculate the spatial and temporal concordance among five rs-fMRI regional indices in 55 children with ADHD and 20 healthy controls. Results: The SNAP25 exhibited significant interaction effects with ADHD diagnosis on the voxel-wise concordance in the right posterior central gyrus, fusiform gyrus and lingual gyrus. Specifically, for children with ADHD, G-carriers showed increased voxel-wise concordance in comparison to TT homozygotes in the right precentral gyrus, superior frontal gyrus, postcentral gyrus, and middle frontal gyrus. The voxel-wise concordance was also found to be related to WM. Conclusion: Our findings provided a new insight into the neural mechanisms of the brain function of ADHD children.


2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 130-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
KEES DE BOT ◽  
CAROL JAENSCH

While research on third language (L3) and multilingualism has recently shown remarkable growth, the fundamental question of what makes trilingualism special compared to bilingualism, and indeed monolingualism, continues to be evaded. In this contribution we consider whether there is such a thing as a true monolingual, and if there is a difference between dialects, styles, registers and languages. While linguistic and psycholinguistic studies suggest differences in the processing of a third, compared to the first or second language, neurolinguistic research has shown that generally the same areas of the brain are activated during language use in proficient multilinguals. It is concluded that while from traditional linguistic and psycholinguistic perspectives there are grounds to differentiate monolingual, bilingual and multilingual processing, a more dynamic perspective on language processing in which development over time is the core issue, leads to a questioning of the notion of languages as separate entities in the brain.


Folia Medica ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 289-296
Author(s):  
Jakob Korf

Abstract Qualia are private conscious experiences of which the associated feelings can be reported to other people. Whether qualia are amenable to scientific exploration has often been questioned, which is challenged by the present article. The following arguments are given: 1. the configuration of the brain changes continuously and irreversibly, because of genetic and environmental influences and interhuman communication; 2. qualia and consciousness are processes, rather than states; 3. private feelings, including those associated with qualia, should be positioned in the context of a personal brain as being developed during life; 4. consciousness and qualia should be understood in the context of general system theory, thus concluding that isolated, in vitro, properties of neurons and other brain constituents might marginally contribute to the understanding of higher brain functions, mind or qualia; 5. current in vivo approaches have too little resolution power - in terms of space and time - to delineate individual and subjective brain processes. When subtle personalized properties of the nervous system can be assessed in vivo or in vitro, qualia can scientifically be investigated. We discuss some approaches to overcome these barriers.


2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (S1) ◽  
pp. S50-S50
Author(s):  
W. Cahn ◽  

ObjectiveGenetic risk and outcome of psychoses (GROUP) is a 6 year longitudinal cohort study that focus on gene–environment vulnerability and resilience in patients with psychotic disorders, their unaffected family members and non-related controls. Its main aim is to elucidate etiological and pathogenetic factors that influence the onset and course of psychotic disorders. In this substudy, we will examine medication use over time, its relation with (the change in) metabolic syndrome status and effects on the brain.MethodsA consortium of four university psychiatric centers and their affiliated mental health care institutions, conducted the GROUP study. At baseline, 1120 patients, 1057 siblings, 919 parents and 590 healthy controls were included. After inclusion, participants, except parents, were evaluated again after three and six years of follow-up. Extensive assessment of genetic factors, environmental factors, medication use, metabolic parameters and outcome were performed. Moreover, brain imaging was performed in a subset of participants, using a 1.5 Tesla MRI scanner.ResultsAt baseline 65% of patients used atypical antipsychotics, 16% used conventional antipsychotics and 19% used clozapine. Siblings and controls used no antipsychotics. Forty-three percent of patients, 21.3% of siblings and 9.1% of controls used antidepressants; 43.9% of patients, 2.1% of siblings and none of the controls used a mood stabilizer. We are currently analyzing the medication data over time in relation to (change in) metabolic syndrome status and the effects on the brain.ConclusionGROUP is a longitudinal cohort study in patients with psychotic disorders, their healthy siblings and controls without psychosis. This naturalistic substudy examines medication use, its association with (change of) metabolic status and effects on the brain in subjects with (high risk of) psychosis.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yalan Xu ◽  
Xiuyue Song ◽  
Dong Wang ◽  
Yin Wang ◽  
Peifeng Li ◽  
...  

AbstractChemical synapses in the brain connect neurons to form neural circuits, providing the structural and functional bases for neural communication. Disrupted synaptic signaling is closely related to a variety of neurological and psychiatric disorders. In the past two decades, proteomics has blossomed as a versatile tool in biological and biomedical research, rendering a wealth of information toward decoding the molecular machinery of life. There is enormous interest in employing proteomic approaches for the study of synapses, and substantial progress has been made. Here, we review the findings of proteomic studies of chemical synapses in the brain, with special attention paid to the key players in synaptic signaling, i.e., the synaptic protein complexes and their post-translational modifications. Looking toward the future, we discuss the technological advances in proteomics such as data-independent acquisition mass spectrometry (DIA-MS), cross-linking in combination with mass spectrometry (CXMS), and proximity proteomics, along with their potential to untangle the mystery of how the brain functions at the molecular level. Last but not least, we introduce the newly developed synaptomic methods. These methods and their successful applications marked the beginnings of the synaptomics era.


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